Camera for mounting on a vehicle

ABSTRACT

A camera for mounting on a vehicle includes a front housing member, a rear housing member, a lens member mounted to the front housing member and an imaging element positioned to receive images from the lens member. A circuit board is mounted to the front housing member and is configured to send to another component signals relating to images received by the imaging element. The circuit board has at least one front electrical connector thereon. The rear housing member has at least one rear electrical connector extending therefrom, with the rear electrical connector electrically connected to the front electrical connector. The rear housing member has a rear alignment structure that aligns the rear electrical connector with respect to the front electrical connector. The rear housing member and the front housing member are unaligned and the rear housing member mates with the front housing member.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/148,148, filed Sep. 7, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,866,907,which is a 371 national phase filing of PCT Application No.PCT/US2010/023475, filed Feb. 8, 2010, which claims the filing benefitof U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 61/150,364, filed Feb. 6, 2009.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a camera for use in vehicles, and moreparticularly rearview cameras for use in vehicles.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A typical camera for mounting on a vehicle has a lens member, an imagingelement, a circuit board and housing members that connect together. Inparticular for certain applications, such as for some applicationswherein the camera is rearwardly facing and is mounted in a rear panelon a vehicle, there can be relatively severe space restrictions for thecamera. Additionally, some cameras are relatively complex assembliesthat are expensive, and that can suffer from reliability problems due tothe number of components and the number of individual electricalconnections that are associated therewith. Another problem with somecameras is that their mounting position can be significantly out fromtheir intended position due to a stack up of tolerances that may existwith the components that make up the camera and that are involved in itsmounting to the vehicle panel.

It would be advantageous to provide a camera that addresses one or moreof these considerations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In a first aspect, the invention is directed to a camera for mounting ona vehicle, wherein the camera includes a front housing member that holdsa lens member, an imaging element and a circuit board with at least onefront electrical connector thereon, and a rear housing member that holdsat least one rear electrical connector that is directly mounted to theat least one front electrical connector. By directly mounting the frontand rear electrical connectors, a jumper wire is not needed, therebyreducing cost and eliminating potential sources of circuit failures thatare associated with the use of jumper wires.

In one embodiment of the first aspect, the front and rear housingmembers are not aligned with respect to each other. The rear housingmember has a rear alignment structure that aligns the rear electricalconnector with respect to the at least one front electrical connector.The rear housing member mates with the front housing member to define acamera interior. The circuit board, the at least one front electricalconnector and the at least one rear electrical connector are positionedin the camera interior.

In another embodiment of the first aspect, the rear housing member has arear alignment structure that aligns the rear electrical connector withrespect to the at least one front electrical connector. The rear housingmember mates with the front housing member generally along a plane sothat the rear housing member and front housing member are unaligned withrespect to each other and wherein the rear housing member and the fronthousing member together define a camera interior. The circuit board, theat least one front electrical connector and the at least one rearelectrical connector are positioned in the camera interior.

In yet another embodiment, the front and rear housing members arealigned with respect to each other. The at least one rear electricalconnector and the at least one front electrical connector are urgedtogether by at least one biasing member. The rear housing member mateswith the front housing member to define a camera interior. The circuitboard, the at least one front electrical connector and the at least onerear electrical connector are positioned in the camera interior.

In yet another embodiment, the invention is directed to a method ofassembling a camera for a vehicle, comprising:

-   -   (a) mounting a lens member, an imaging element and a circuit        board to a front housing member, wherein the imaging element is        positioned to receive images from the lens member, wherein the        circuit board is mounted to the front housing member, wherein        the circuit board is configured to send to another component        signals relating to images received by the imaging element,        wherein the circuit board has at least one front electrical        connector thereon;    -   (b) providing a rear housing member with at least one rear        electrical connector thereon;    -   (c) aligning the rear electrical connector with respect to the        at least one front electrical connector;    -   (d) forming at least one connection between the at least one        rear electrical connector and the at least one front electrical        connector; and    -   (e) joining the front and rear housing members together to        define a camera interior in which the circuit board, the at        least one front electrical connector and the at least one rear        electrical connector are positioned, without aligning the front        and rear housing members with respect to one another.

In a second aspect, the invention is directed to a camera for mountingon a vehicle, wherein the camera includes a front housing member thatholds a lens member, an imaging element, a circuit board and a rearhousing member. At least the front housing member includes a coating ofelectrically conductive material on its inner surface, that iselectrically connected to the circuit board and that is electricallyconnectable to ground.

In an embodiment of the second aspect, the circuit board has at leastone front electrical connector thereon. One of the at least one frontconnector is in electrical communication with the front housing membercoating and is electrically connectable to ground. The rear housingmember has at least one rear electrical connector thereon. The at leastone rear electrical connector is connected to the at least one frontelectrical connector.

In a third aspect, the invention is directed to a camera for mounting ona vehicle panel, wherein the camera is configured to rotate into alocking position on the vehicle panel, without the need for cameramounting fasteners.

In an embodiment of the third aspect, the camera includes a fronthousing member, a lens member, an imaging element, a circuit board, arear housing member and a camera-associated locking structure. The lensmember extends along a camera axis. The lens member and circuit boardare mounted to the front housing member. The camera-associated lockingstructure is connected to at least one of the front housing member, thelens member and the rear housing member. The camera-associated lockingstructure is engageable with a vehicle panel-associated lockingstructure on the vehicle panel. The camera-associated locking structureis rotatable between an unlocked position wherein the camera-associatedlocking structure is disengaged from the vehicle panel-associatedlocking structure and a locked position wherein the camera-associatedlocking structure is engaged with the vehicle panel-associated lockingstructure to prevent axial movement of the camera relative to thevehicle panel. One of the camera-associated and vehicle panel-associatedlocking structures includes a first locking surface and a second lockingsurface that generally axially face each other. The other of thecamera-associated and vehicle panel-associated locking structuresincludes a third locking surface and a fourth locking surface thatgenerally axially face away from each other. In another embodiment ofthe third aspect, the invention is directed to a combination of thecamera and the vehicle panel.

In a fourth aspect, the invention is directed to a combination of acamera and a vehicle panel wherein the camera lacks a front housingmember and instead includes components that are directly mounted to thevehicle panel.

In an embodiment of the fourth aspect, the camera includes a lensmember, an imaging element and a circuit board. The lens member isfixedly connected with respect to the circuit board. The circuit boardis mounted to the vehicle panel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will now be described by way of example only withreference to the attached drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a camera in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a magnified perspective view of a portion of the camera shownin FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a rear housing member from the camera shown inFIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a magnified sectional side view of a portion of the camerashown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a magnified sectional side view of an alternative structurefor the portion of the camera shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a magnified sectional side of another alternative structurefor the portion of the camera shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is another magnified sectional side view of a portion of thecamera shown in FIG. 1, showing structure used to ground elements of thecamera;

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating a method of making a camera inaccordance with another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a camera in accordance with anotherembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a magnified perspective view of a portion of the camera shownin FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a magnified sectional side view of a portion of the camerashown in FIG. 9;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a camera in accordance with anotherembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view from another viewpoint of the camera shownin FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is an elevation view of a vehicle panel showing a lens memberfrom the camera shown in FIG. 12 engaged therewith;

FIG. 15 is a sectional side view of the vehicle panel shown in FIG. 14and the camera shown in FIG. 12;

FIG. 16 shows a trim piece that can be mounted to the vehicle panel withthe camera shown in FIG. 12;

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of a camera in accordance with anotherembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 18 is a perspective view of a vehicle panel for receiving thecamera shown in FIG. 17;

FIG. 19 is a sectional side view of the camera shown in FIG. 17assembled with the vehicle panel shown in FIG. 18;

FIG. 20 is a perspective view of a camera in accordance with anotherembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 21 is a perspective view of a vehicle panel for receiving thecamera shown in FIG. 20;

FIG. 22 is a perspective view of the camera shown in FIG. 20 assembledwith the vehicle panel shown in FIG. 21;

FIG. 23 is a perspective view of a camera in accordance with anotherembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 24 is a perspective view of a vehicle panel for receiving thecamera shown in FIG. 23;

FIG. 24a is a sectional side view of the camera shown in FIG. 23assembled with the vehicle panel shown in FIG. 24;

FIG. 25 is a sectional side view of a combination of a camera and avehicle panel camera in accordance with another embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 26 is an elevation view of the vehicle panel shown in FIG. 25;

FIG. 27 is a perspective view of an alternative set of front and rearconnectors for use with the camera shown in FIGS. 9-11; and

FIG. 28 is a perspective view of a plurality of the rear connector shownin FIG. 27 and a plurality of the front connector shown in FIG. 27, in aconnector housing for mounting to a circuit board in the camera shown inFIGS. 9-11.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference is made to FIG. 1, which shows a camera 10 for use in avehicle, and in particular for use as a rearview camera in a vehicle.The camera 10 includes a lens member 12, a circuit board 14, an imagingelement 15, a front housing member 16 and a rear housing member 18(shown for illustrative purposes only in FIG. 1 as being transparent).The lens member 12 may be any suitable lens member known in the art, andis mounted to the front housing member 16.

Note that the terms ‘front’ and Year’ as used in the present documentrefer to the front of the camera 10 (i.e., the portion of the camerawhere the lens member is located), and the rear of the camera 10 (i.e.,the portion of the camera 10 opposite the front of the camera 10). Whenthe camera 10 is used in a rearview application in a vehicle, the frontof the camera 10 thus faces rearwardly relative to the vehicle and therear of the camera 10 faces towards the front of the vehicle.

The imaging element 15 is positioned in a selected position to receiveimages through the lens member 12. The imaging element 15 may be anysuitable imaging element a charge-coupled device (CCD) or acomplimentary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) sensor. The circuit board14 receives signals from the imaging element 15 and sends signalsrelating to images received on the imaging element 15 to one or moreother components such as another computing device within the vehicle.The imaging element 15 may be mounted directly on the circuit board 14.

The circuit board is mounted to the front housing member 16. Referringto FIG. 2, a plurality of front electrical connectors 20 are provided onthe circuit board 14, which are used to electrically connect the circuitboard 14 to associated elements in the vehicle (not shown). For example,a first front electrical connector 20 a may be a power connector, andmay be configured to receive power from a power source (not shown)located in the vehicle. A second front electrical connector 20 b may beconfigured to send video signals to a controller (not shown) in thevehicle, which displays the video signals on a screen inside the vehiclecabin. A third front electrical connector 20 c may connect to ground,and may be configured to conduct any buildup of static electricity thatmight otherwise damage the circuit board, which is described in furtherdetail below. While a plurality of front electrical connectors 20 areshown, it is alternatively possible for the circuit board 14 to have asfew as one front electrical connector thereon.

The front electrical connectors 20 may be female electrical connectors21, and may be provided in a female electrical connector housing 22 thatis fixedly mounted to the circuit board 14.

The rear housing member 18 has a plurality of rear electrical connectors24 that are electrically connected to the front electrical connectors 20on the circuit board 14 and are configured to electrically connect thecircuit board 14 to associated elements in the vehicle. For example, afirst rear electrical connector 24 a connects between the first frontelectrical connector 20 a and a power source in the vehicle. A secondrear electrical connector 24 b connects between the second frontelectrical connector 20 b and the controller in the vehicle. A thirdrear electrical connector 24 c connects between the third frontelectrical connector 20 c and a grounding element in the vehicle. Aplurality of rear electrical connectors 24 are shown, however it isalternatively possible for the rear housing member 18 to have as few asone rear electrical connector 24 therein.

The rear electrical connectors 24 may be conductive pins 25 that arereceived in the female electrical connectors 21. The rear electricalconnectors 24 may be incorporated into the rear housing member 18 by anysuitable means, such as by insert molding. In such embodiments, the rearelectrical connectors 24 may be integral with the rear housing member18.

Each rear electrical connector 24 has a front end 26 where it connectsto one of the front electrical connectors 20. The connection between therear electrical connector 24 and the front electrical connector 20 isshown at 27. Each rear electrical connector 24 further has a rear end 28that is configured to connect with an associated element in the vehicle(e.g., a power source, a controller).

A rear alignment structure 30 (FIGS. 3 and 4) is provided that alignsthe rear electrical connectors 24 with respect to the front electricalconnectors 20 (FIG. 4). The rear alignment structure 30 may comprise asleeve 32 that is molded integrally with the rear housing member 18. Thesleeve 32 snugly receives the female electrical connector housing 22when the rear electrical connectors 24 are connected to the frontelectrical connectors 20. Because the sleeve 32 and the pins 25 areintegrally formed together in a single part 33 (which includes the rearhousing member 18, the rear electrical connectors 24 and the sleeve 32),the sleeve 32 may be considered to align the rear electrical connectors24 with the front electrical connectors 20. The sleeve 32 may surroundthe rear electrical connectors 24, as shown in FIG. 3, or alternatively,it may be positioned remotely from the rear electrical connectors 24 andmay snugly receive some other structure than the female electricalconnector housing 22.

As shown in FIG. 5, it is alternatively possible for the rear electricalconnectors 24 themselves to be the sole rear alignment structure 30.

Referring to FIG. 4, the rear housing member 18 has a front face 37 thatmates with a rear face 39 on the front housing member 16. It will benoted that the mating of the front face 37 and rear face 39 takes placealong a mating plane P. As a result, the mating of the front face 37 andrear face 39 does not serve to align the rear housing member 18 with thefront housing member 16. By not aligning the front and rear housingmembers 16 and 18 with each other, a potential source of stress on thefront and rear electrical connectors 20 and 24 is eliminated, sincealignment between the front and rear housing members 16 and 18 might notcorrespond precisely to alignment of the front and rear electricalconnectors 20 and 24.

The mating plane P is shown in FIG. 4 as being generally perpendicularto the direction of insertion of the pins 25 into the female electricalconnectors 21, which is shown at D. It will be noted that the matingplane P need not be perpendicular to the direction of insertion D, andmay instead extend at some other angle to the direction of insertion D.

Additionally, the front and rear faces 37 and 39 of the rear and fronthousing members 18 and 16 respectively need not themselves be flat inprofile. For example, they may have a rounded profile or some othersuitable shape.

The front and rear housing members 16 and 18 together define a camerainterior 34 in which the circuit board 14 and the connection between thefront and rear electrical connectors 20 and 24 are positioned. In thisway, the front and rear housing members 16 and 18 protect the connection27 between the front and rear electrical connectors 20 and 24 fromexposure and damage.

The front and rear housing members 16 and 18 may be sealingly joinedtogether by some suitable means, such as by welding or by use ofadhesive.

Referring to FIG. 6, it is alternatively possible for the frontelectrical connectors 20 to be mounted directly in the circuit board 14,e.g., in the form of apertures 35 in the circuit board 14.

The front and rear housing members 16 and 18 may be made from anysuitable material, such as a polymeric material, such as a materialcalled Xenoy™ from Sabic Americas, Inc. in Houston, Tex., USA. Ininstances wherein the front and rear housing members 16 and 18 may buildup a static electrical charge it is preferable to provide means toinhibit such a buildup so as to protect components such as the circuitboard 14.

Referring to FIG. 7, to inhibit the buildup of static electricity on thefront housing member 16, a front housing member coating 36 ofelectrically conductive material may be provided on the front housingmember interior surface, shown at 38. The front electrical connector 20c (which may be referred to as a front ground connector) may beelectrically connected to the front housing member coating 36 anysuitable way. For example, the circuit board 14 may be mounted to thefront housing member 16 by an electrically conductive circuit boardmounting fastener 40, which may be a mechanical fastener such as amachine screw that engages an aperture 41 (e.g., a threaded aperture) onthe front housing member 16. The aperture 41 may have the front housingmember coating 36 thereon so that the circuit board mounting fastener 40is in direct contact with the front housing member coating 36. The frontground connector 20 c may be electrically connected to the circuit boardmounting fastener 40 by an electrical trace (not shown) on the circuitboard 14. The front ground connector 20 c thereby conducts any buildupof electricity away from the front housing member 16 to the rearelectrical connector 24 c (which may be referred to as a rear groundconnector), which in turn conducts the electricity to a ground point inthe vehicle. The front housing member coating 36 may be any suitablematerial, such as Aluminum.

To inhibit the buildup of static electricity on the rear housing member18, a rear housing member coating 42 of electrically conductive materialmay be provided on the rear housing member interior surface, shown at44. The rear housing member coating 42 may be applied to both the rearhousing member interior surface 44 and to at least a base portion of therear ground connector 24 c to electrically connect the rear groundconnector 24 c to the rear housing member coating 42. As a result, anyelectrical charge that is built up on the rear housing member 18 isconducted away by the rear housing member coating 42 to the rear groundconnector 24 c and out to ground at a suitable location in the vehicle.It will be understood that the other rear electrical connectors 24(e.g., the rear electrical connectors 24 a and 24 b shown in FIG. 2) arenot electrically connected to the rear housing member coating 42 (FIG.7). The rear housing member coating 42 may be any suitable material,such as Aluminum.

Reference is made to FIG. 8, which shows a method 50 of assembling acamera, such as the camera 10 shown in FIG. 4, in accordance withanother embodiment of the present invention. The method steps shown inFIG. 8 may be described in relation to features shown in the exemplarycamera 10 shown in FIG. 4. The method 50 begins at step 52. At step 54,the lens member 12 and the circuit board 14 are mounted to the fronthousing member 16. At step 56, the rear housing member 18 is providedwhich has the one or more rear electrical connectors 24 thereon. At step58, the at least one rear electrical connector 24 is aligned withrespect to the at least one front electrical connector 20. In aparticular embodiment, such as that shown in FIG. 4, step 58 maycomprise inserting the female electrical connector housing 22 into thesleeve 32. Alternatively, step 58 may comprise inserting the pins 25themselves into the female electrical connectors 21. At step 60, atleast one connection is formed between the at least one rear electricalconnector 24 and the at least one front electrical connector 20. It willbe noted that step 60 and step 58 may both be carried out by compriseinserting the pins 25 into the female electrical connectors 21 inembodiments wherein no other alignment means is provided and wherein therear connectors 24 are pins 25 and the front connectors 20 are femaleelectrical connectors 21. At step 62, the front and rear housing members16 and 18 are joined together to define the camera interior 34 in whichthe circuit board 14, the at least one front electrical connector 20 andthe at least one rear electrical connector 24 are positioned, withoutaligning the front and rear housing members 16 and 18 with respect toone another. The front and rear housing members 16 and 18 may besealingly joined together using such means as adhesive or welding.

It will be noted that several of the aforementioned steps may take placesimultaneously. For example, when the pins 25 are inserted fully intothe at least one female electrical connector 21, the rear electricalconnector 24 is aligned with respect to the at least one frontelectrical connector 20, a connection is made between the front and rearelectrical connectors 20 and 24, and the front and rear housing members16 and 18 are joined together to define the camera interior 34.

In embodiments wherein the front housing member 16 has a front housingmember interior surface 38 that has a front housing member coating 36 ofelectrically conductive material thereon, the method 50 may furtherinclude step 64, which is electrically connecting one of the at leastone front electrical connector 20 with the front housing member coating36.

In embodiments wherein the rear housing member 18 has a rear housingmember interior surface 44 that has a rear housing member coating 42 ofelectrically conductive material thereon, the method 50 may furtherinclude step 66, which is electrically connecting one of the at leastone rear electrical connector 24 with the rear housing member coating42.

With continued reference to FIG. 4, providing a camera with the frontand rear electrical connectors 20 and 24 aligned with each other permitsthem to be directly connected to one another without the need forintermediate electrical connectors, such as jumper wires. Eliminatingjumper wires eliminates a source of electrical failure for the camera10.

In an alternative embodiment that is not shown it is possible for thefront electrical connectors 20 to be pins 25 (e.g., which extend from apin housing (not shown) that is mounted onto the circuit board 14), andfor the rear electrical connectors 24 to be female electrical connectors21. As another alternative, some of the front electrical connectors 20may be pins 25 and some may be female electrical connectors 21, and someof the rear electrical connectors 24 may be female or male, in acomplementary arrangement.

It has been shown for the rear electrical connectors 24 to be integral(e.g., by insert molding) with the rear housing member 18. It isalternatively possible however, for the rear electrical connectors 24 tonot be integral with the rear housing member 18, particularly inembodiments wherein the sleeve 32 is omitted.

By providing instead a direct connection between the front and rearelectrical connectors 20 and 24, the overall size of the camera 10 maybe reduced, since room for a jumper cable with connectors at each end isnot needed.

Reference is made to FIG. 9, which shows a camera 80 in accordance withanother embodiment of the present invention. The camera 80 permitsalignment of the front and rear housing members, shown at 82 and 84,which can reduce the overall space necessary for the camera 80 relativeto the camera 10 (FIG. 2) which has unaligned front and rear housingmembers 16 and 18. The rear housing member 84 is shown as transparent inFIG. 9 to more clearly show the underlying structure.

The camera 80 includes a lens member 86, which may be similar to thelens member 12 (FIG. 1), an imaging element 87 which may be similar tothe imaging element 15 (FIG. 1), a circuit board 88 which may be similarto the circuit board 14 (FIG. 1), the front housing member 82 and therear housing member 84. The lens member 86 and circuit board 88 maymount to the front housing member 82 in any suitable way. The circuitboard 88 has thereon a plurality of front electrical connectors 90 whichhave rear ends 92 that form connections 93 with front ends 94 of aplurality of rear electrical connectors 96 that are connected to therear housing member 84. The rear electrical connectors 96 may beintegral with the rear housing member 84 (e.g., by insert molding) orthey may be connected in some other way.

To form the connections 93, the rear ends 92 of the front electricalconnectors 90 and the front ends 94 of the rear electrical connectors 96may be configured to permit some misalignment therebetween. For example,the rear ends 92 of the front electrical connectors 90 may be configuredas generally circular conductive pads 97 (shown more clearly in FIG. 10)of a selected size to permit the connections 93 to be formed even insituations where the front and rear electrical connectors aresignificantly misaligned due to the tolerances that play a role in theirrelative positions.

Biasing members 98 may be provided to urge the rear ends 92 of the frontelectrical connectors 90 and the front ends 94 of the rear electricalconnectors 96 towards engagement with each other. For example, the frontelectrical connectors 90 may include a bend 100 thereby providing abiasing member and live hinge that urges the rear ends 92 intoengagement with the front ends 94. The biasing members 98 are preferablyconfigured to urge the engagement between the rear and front ends 92 and94 with a sufficiently high force that the connection 93 remains madeeven when the vehicle encounters bumps (e.g., from road or route surfaceimperfections during travel).

Referring to FIG. 11, an alignment mechanism 99 may be provided on thefront and rear housing members 82 and 84 to align them with respect toeach other. The alignment mechanism 99 may have any suitable structure.For example, the alignment mechanism 99 may include a rear alignmentsurface 99 a on the rear housing member 84 that mates with a shoulder 99b on the front housing member 82.

Instead of providing the conductive pads 97 at the rear ends 92 of thefront electrical connectors 90, conductive pads may alternatively beformed on the front ends 94 of the rear electrical connectors 96. As yetanother alternative, it is possible to provide conductive pads on boththe rear and front ends 92 and 94.

The rear electrical connectors 96 may have rear ends 101 that aresimilar in configuration to the rear ends 28 (FIG. 1) of the rearelectrical connectors 24.

The functions of the front and rear electrical connectors 90 and 96 maybe similar to the functions of the front and rear electrical connectors20 and 24 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 (e.g., for carrying power,data, current to ground).

The grounding of the front and rear housing members 90 and 96 and thecircuit board 88 may be achieved similarly to the grounding that isachieved for the camera 10, i.e., by coating the front and rear housingmembers 90 and 96 with electrically conductive material and byelectrically connecting the circuit board 88, and one of the front andrear electrical connectors 90 and 96 to the associated coatings.

Reference is made to FIG. 12, which shows a camera 150 in accordancewith another embodiment of the present invention. The camera 150 iscapable of being mounted to a vehicle panel, shown at 152 (FIG. 14)relatively simply and with high positional accuracy. The vehicle panel152 may be any suitable vehicle panel, such as a liftgate handle orpanel, a tailgate handle or panel, a spoiler or a lightbar.

Referring to FIG. 12, the camera 150 includes a lens member 154 whichmay be similar to the lens member 12 (FIG. 1), an imaging element 155(FIG. 15) which may be similar to the imaging element 15 (FIG. 1), acircuit board 156 (FIG. 12) which may be similar to the circuit board 14(FIG. 1), a front housing member 158 and a rear housing member 160. Thelens member 154 extends along (and defines) a camera axis Ac.

The camera 150 includes a camera-associated locking structure 161,including two first locking surfaces 162 (FIGS. 13 and 15) and a secondlocking surface 164 (FIGS. 12 and 15). Each first locking surface 162 issituated on a locking element 163 and faces in a first axial direction,e.g., rearwardly. The second locking surface 164 faces in a second axialdirection that is opposed to the first axial direction, e.g., forwardly,and is rearward of the first locking surface 162. Thus, the first andsecond locking surfaces 162 and 164 face each other. Referring to FIG.15, the first locking structure 161 cooperates with a vehiclepanel-associated locking structure 165 on the vehicle panel 152 to lockthe camera 150 to the vehicle panel 152. The vehicle panel-associatedlocking structure 165 includes third and fourth locking surfaces 166 and168, which may be on the outside and inside surfaces of the vehiclepanel 152, shown at 170 and 171. The third and fourth locking surfaces166 and 168 thus face away from each other.

As shown in FIG. 14, the vehicle panel 152 includes a camera mountingaperture 172, and a first locking element pass-through 173 for thelocking elements 163 on which the first locking surfaces 162 aresituated.

Referring to FIG. 15, the first and second locking surfaces 162 and 164may be spaced apart by a spacing S that may be related to the localthickness of the vehicle panel 152, shown at T in FIG. 15. The spacing Smay be the same as the spacing T. The spacing S may alternatively bedifferent than the spacing T. For example, the spacing S may be lessthan the spacing T, thereby providing an interference fit between thecamera-associated locking structure 161 and the vehicle-based lockingstructure 163.

The description of the mounting of the camera 150 will be made withreference to FIG. 15. To mount the camera 150 to the vehicle panel 152,the camera 150 is inserted through the camera mounting aperture 172 withthe first locking elements 163 oriented to pass through the firstlocking element pass-throughs 173 (FIG. 14). The first locking surfaces162 are then rotated about the axis Ac (shown as a point in FIG. 14) toa locking position (shown in FIGS. 14 and 15). Referring to FIG. 15, inthe locking position the first and second locking surfaces 162 and 164capture the vehicle panel 152 therebetween. A detent mechanism 173 maybe provided to hold the camera 150 rotationally in its operatingposition. The detent mechanism 173 may include a first detent element174, which may be, for example, a boss, on the third locking surface 170and a second detent element 176, which may be, for example, a notch(shown more clearly in FIG. 13), on one or more of the first lockingsurfaces 162. In an embodiment that is not shown, it will be understoodthat the boss 174 (FIG. 15) could alternatively be positioned on one ormore of the first locking surfaces 162 and the notch 176 may bepositioned on the vehicle panel 152.

Referring to FIG. 14, to facilitate rotation of the camera 150 when thelocking elements 163 are passed through the first locking elementpass-throughs 173, a lead-in 178 (shown also in FIG. 13) may be providedon each front locking element 163. A shoulder 180 (FIGS. 13 and 14) mayalso be provided on the first locking elements 163 to engage the edge ofthe camera mounting aperture 172 (FIG. 14) to center the camera 150therein.

While one second locking surface 164 is shown (e.g., a continuous flangethat extends circumferentially all the way around the camera 150) it isoptionally possible to have a plurality of second locking surfaces 164that are situated on small flange portions that are circumferentiallyspaced from one another (similar to the circumferentially spaced firstlocking elements 163).

Referring to FIG. 15, an optional trim piece 182 (also shownindividually in FIG. 16) may be provided that clips into a depression184 (FIG. 15) in the vehicle panel 152 in which the camera mountingaperture 172 and first locking element pass-throughs 173 (FIG. 14) areprovided. The trim piece 182 rests flush with the vehicle panel 152 anditself has a camera aperture 186 for the pass-through of the lens member154. The lens member 154 may rest substantially flush with the cameraaperture 186. The camera 150 may further include a seal member 188 thatis positioned between the lens member 154 and the trim piece 182 toinhibit the pass through of contaminants from outside the vehicle panel152 into the depression 184 to potentially damage the camera 150.

As shown in FIG. 15, the first locking surfaces 162 are shown as beingprovided on the lens member 154, and the second locking surface 164 isshown as being provided on the front housing member 158. It isalternatively possible for the first locking surfaces 162 to be providedon the front housing member 158, along with the second locking surface164.

Reference is made to FIG. 17, which shows a camera 200 in accordancewith another embodiment of the present invention. The camera 200 may besimilar to the camera 150 (FIG. 12). One difference in particular isthat the first locking elements, shown at 202, are incorporated into thefront housing member, shown at 204, instead of being incorporated intothe lens member. By eliminating any locking surfaces from the lensmember, shown at 206, the lens member 206 is subject to reduced stressduring installation of the camera 200 on the vehicle panel, shown at 208(FIG. 18). Reducing the stresses on the lens member 206 (FIG. 17)reduces the likelihood that the lens member 206 will come out of itsoptimal position for focusing images on the imaging element, shown at210. The camera 200 further includes a circuit board 212 and a rearhousing member 214 which may be similar to the circuit board 156 and therear housing member 160 respectively (FIG. 15). The vehicle panel 208(FIG. 18) may include a camera mounting aperture 216, a pair of firstlocking element pass-throughs 218, a third locking surface 220 (FIG. 19)and a fourth locking surface 222, which may be similar to the cameramounting aperture 172 (FIG. 14), the pair of first locking elementpass-throughs 173 (FIG. 14), the third locking surface 170 (FIG. 15) andthe fourth locking surface 171 (FIG. 15) respectively.

With reference to FIG. 19, another difference with the camera 200 isthat it may include a gasket 224 that rests on a shoulder 226 on thefront housing member 204, and that has an axially facing surface 228that acts as the second locking surface. The gasket 224 is compressed bya selected amount when the camera 200 is mounted on the vehicle panel208.

As shown in FIG. 17, the camera 200 may further include a first detentelement 230 in associated with each first locking element 202, the fronthousing member 204 and a second detent element 232 for each first detentelement 230, positioned on the edge of the camera mounting aperture 216(FIG. 18). The first detent elements 230 (FIG. 17) engage the seconddetent elements 232 (FIG. 18) to hold the camera 200 at a selectedrotational position, and also to center the camera 200 in the cameramounting aperture 216. The first and second detent elements 230 and 232make up a detent mechanism 234. It will be noted that only one firstdetent element 230 is shown in FIG. 17 due to the viewpoint portrayed inthat figure.

Reference is made to FIG. 20, which shows a camera 250 in accordancewith another embodiment of the present invention. The camera 250 may besimilar to the camera 150 (FIG. 12). One difference in particular isthat the camera-associated locking structure, shown at 251 includes thethird and fourth locking surfaces shown at 252 and 253 respectively. Thethird and fourth locking surfaces are provided on locking elements 254that are incorporated into the rear housing member, shown at 255,instead of being incorporated into the lens member. The camera 250further includes an imaging element 256, a circuit board 258 and a fronthousing member 260.

The vehicle panel that receives the camera 250 is shown at 262 (FIG.21). The vehicle panel 262 includes an outside surface (not shown) andan inside surface 266. The vehicle panel-associated locking structure isshown at 268 and is mounted to the inside surface 266 about a cameramounting aperture 269. The vehicle panel-associated locking structure268 includes the first and second locking surfaces, shown at 270 and272.

To mount the camera 250 to the vehicle panel 262, the camera 250 isinserted through the camera mounting aperture 269, and thecamera-associated locking elements 254 are rotated until they arecaptured by the vehicle panel-associated locking elements 268.

Reference is made to FIG. 23, which shows a camera 300 in accordancewith another embodiment of the present invention. The camera 300 may besimilar to the camera 250 (FIG. 20). One difference in particular isthat the camera-associated locking structure, shown at 302 includes fourlocking elements 304 on the front housing member, shown at 305. Eachlocking element 304 has thereon third and fourth locking surfaces shownat 306 and 308 respectively. The third and fourth locking surfaces 306and 308 are captured by a vehicle panel-associated locking element 310(FIG. 24) that includes first and second locking surfaces 312 and 314(FIG. 24a ) on the vehicle panel, shown at 316. The camera 300 furtherincludes a lens member 317, an imaging element 318, a circuit board 320and a rear housing member 322.

Providing a camera, such as the cameras 150, 200, 250 and 300 (FIGS. 12,17, 20 and 23), that mounts directly onto the vehicle panel withoutseparate mounting fasteners (e.g., screws) reduces cost of the camera.Additionally, the mounting of the camera can be carried out relativelyquickly, further reducing the cost associated with the camera.Additionally, it will be noted that, in some embodiments, namely thoseshown in FIGS. 12, 20 and 23, the camera-associated locking structure isshown as being mounted on the front housing member and/or on the lensmember 154. The tolerances that are involved in the orientation andposition of the lens member 154 include the tolerances associated withthe vehicle panel 152, the lens member 154 and the front housing member158. By comparison, some prior art cameras mount to a vehicle panelthrough their rear housing member.

In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 12, 17, 20 and 23, the first andsecond locking surfaces have been shown to face directly axially towardseach other and the third and fourth locking surface have been shown toface directly axially away from each other. It will be understood thatthe first and second locking surfaces may generally face each other(e.g., they may both be angled to some extent away from each other)while still performing their function as locking surfaces. Similarly thethird and fourth locking surfaces may generally face away from eachother (e.g., they may both be angled to some extent from being orienteddirectly away from each other) while still performing their function aslocking surfaces.

Reference is made to FIG. 25, which shows a camera 400 in accordancewith another embodiment of the present invention. The camera 400 mountsto a vehicle panel 402 without the need for a front housing member. Anadvantage of eliminating the front housing member is that the camera 400may occupy a reduced amount of space relative to some cameras of theprior art. The camera 400 may face rearwardly on the vehicle.Additionally, the steps in assembling the camera 400 and assembling thecamera 400 to the vehicle panel 402 may be reduced relative to a camerathat includes a separate front housing member.

The camera 400 includes a lens member 404, an imaging element 403 whichmay be similar to the imaging element 15 (FIG. 1), a circuit board 406and a rear housing member 407. The lens member 404 may be configured tobe pre-assembled to the circuit board 406 by a connecting structure 405at a suitable distance for focusing on the imaging element 403 that maybe contained on the circuit board 406. The connecting structure 205 maybe any suitable structure, such as, for example, a cylinder that isglued to both the circuit board 406 and the lens member 404.

The circuit board 406 with the lens member 404 mounted thereto ismounted to internally threaded apertures 408 that are provided onsupports 410 that may be molded directly in the vehicle panel 402 forreceiving threaded circuit board mounting fasteners 411. The supports410 may be sized so that when the circuit board 406 is mounted thereonthe lens member 404 lies approximately flush with the outside surfaceshown at 412 of the vehicle panel 402. To facilitate assembly of thecamera 400 into the vehicle panel 402, some of the supports 410 may notinclude internally threaded apertures, and thus serve only as spacers.In the embodiment of the vehicle panel 402 shown in FIG. 25, two of thesupports, shown at 410 a, include the apertures 208, and two of thesupports, shown at 410 b, do not include apertures.

Referring again to FIG. 25, after mounting the circuit board 406 to thevehicle panel 402, a rear housing member 407 may be connected to a wallstructure 414 that is molded directly into the vehicle panel 402. Theconnection of the rear housing member 407 may be by any suitable means,such as by adhesive. The rear housing member 407 thus protects thecircuit board 406 and other camera components from contaminants thatcould damage those components.

The vehicle panel 202 may be any suitable vehicle panel, such as aliftgate handle or panel, a tailgate handle or panel, a spoiler or alightbar.

A seal member 216 may be provided between the lens member 204 and thevehicle panel 202 to inhibit the pass through of contaminants fromoutside the vehicle panel 152 to potentially damage the camera 150.

Reference is made to FIG. 27, which shows a set of male, front andfemale, rear electrical connectors 500 and 502 respectively that can beused in place of the electrical connectors 90 and 96 respectively in theembodiment shown in FIGS. 9-11. The male electrical connector 500 may bea simple pin that is molded into and extends downwardly from the rearhousing member 84, and may be similar in shape to the rear electricalconnector 25 in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-7. The female electricalconnector 502 is provided in the female electrical connector housing 504(FIG. 28) that is fixedly mounted to the circuit board 88 (FIG. 9).Preferably, the housing 504 (FIG. 28) is divided into individualchambers 506 for each electrical connector 502 to ensure that theconnectors 502 do not bend in an unexpected way that drives two adjacentconnectors 502 to contact one another, during insertion of the pins 500therein. Each individual female electrical connector 502 is permitted toflex individually in a first direction shown by arrow 508 to accommodatean imperfectly positioned male connector 500. Furthermore, eachindividual electrical connector 502 has a width in a second directionshown by arrow 510, which is perpendicular to the first direction. Thewidth of the female connectors 502 is selected to be sufficiently wideto accommodate a selected amount of tolerance in the positions of theindividual male connectors 500. Thus, the female connectors 502 whichare associated with the circuit board 88 (and thus with the fronthousing member 82, shown in FIG. 9) can accommodate a selected amount oftolerance in the two directions 508 and 510 that relate to the alignmentbetween the male connectors 500 which are associated with the rearhousing member 84.

To permit the bending in the first direction 508, the female connector502 includes a resilient flexure member 512 (FIG. 27), which permits thepin capture head, shown at 513 to move as needed to accommodatetolerance in the pin 500 in the first direction. The pin capture head513 may be made up of a pair of chevron shaped arms 514 and 516 that areintegrally connected to each other through a body plate 517. The arms514 and 516 are resiliently flexible relative to the body plate 517. Thearms 514 and 516 are preferably positioned less than the thickness ofthe pins 500 apart, so that at least one of the arms 514 and 516 isensured to remain in contact with a pin 500 inserted into the femaleconnector 502. The chevron shaped arms 514 and 516 also provide lead-infor the pins 500 to promote the sliding of the pins 500 into femaleconnector 502.

The above described connecting structure between the first and secondconnectors 500 and 502 permits the housing members 84 and 86 to mounttogether in an aligned way, similar to how they mount together in FIG.11, while reducing the potential for failure of the connectors 90 and 96that would result from any misalignment between them.

The camera in accordance with an embodiment of the present inventionneed not be mounted at the rear of a vehicle or as a rearview camera.The camera may be mounted anywhere suitable about the vehicle, and maybe mounted on the side of the vehicle or the front of the vehicle, forexample. In such alternative installations, the camera could face thefront or side of the vehicle, or may, for example, face the rear of thevehicle while being mounted on the side of the vehicle (e.g., forblind-spot monitoring for the vehicle).

While the above description constitutes a plurality of embodiments ofthe present invention, it will be appreciated that the present inventionis susceptible to further modification and change without departing fromthe fair meaning of the accompanying claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A camera for mounting on a vehicle,comprising: a front housing member; a lens member mounted to the fronthousing member; an imaging element that is positioned to receive imagesfrom the lens member; a circuit board mounted to the front housingmember, wherein the circuit board is configured to send to anothercomponent signals relating to images received by the imaging element,wherein the circuit board has at least one front electrical connectorthereon; and a rear housing member configured to mate with the fronthousing member, wherein the rear housing member has at least one rearelectrical connector extending therefrom, and wherein, as the rearhousing member is mated with the front housing member, the at least onerear electrical connector aligns with and electrically connects to theat least one front electrical connector, and wherein the rear housingmember has a rear alignment structure that aligns the at least one rearelectrical connector with respect to the at least one front electricalconnector as the rear housing member is mated with the front housingmember, and wherein the rear housing member mates with the front housingmember to define a camera interior, wherein the imaging element, thecircuit board, the at least one front electrical connector and the atleast one rear electrical connector are positioned in the camerainterior.
 2. A camera as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least onerear electrical connector is at least one conductive pin and wherein theat least one front electrical connector is a female electricalconnector.
 3. A camera as claimed in claim 2, wherein the at least oneconductive pin is the rear alignment structure.
 4. A camera as claimedin claim 2, wherein the at least one female electrical connector ispositioned in a female electrical connector housing, and wherein therear alignment structure includes a sleeve that snugly receives thefemale electrical connector housing.
 5. A camera as claimed in claim 4,wherein the sleeve is integral with the rear housing member.
 6. A cameraas claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one rear electricalconnector is integral with the rear housing member.
 7. A camera asclaimed in claim 6, wherein the at least one rear electrical connectoris insert molded into the rear housing member.
 8. A camera as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the front and rear housing members are sealingly joinedtogether.
 9. A camera as claimed in claim 1, wherein the front housingmember has a front housing member interior surface that has a fronthousing member coating of electrically conductive material thereon, andwherein one of the at least one front electrical connector is inelectrical communication with the front housing member coating and iselectrically connectable to ground.
 10. A camera as claimed in claim 9,wherein the circuit board is mounted to the front housing with anelectrically conductive circuit board fastener that is in electricalcommunication with the front housing member coating.
 11. A camera asclaimed in claim 10, wherein the rear housing member has a rear housingmember interior surface that has a rear housing member coating thereon,and wherein one of the at least one rear electrical connector is incommunication with the rear housing member coating and is electricallyconnectable to ground.
 12. A camera as claimed in claim 11, wherein thesaid one of the at least one rear electrical connector is incommunication with the said one of the at least one front electricalconnector.
 13. A camera for mounting on a vehicle, comprising: a fronthousing member having a front housing member interior surface that has afront housing member coating of electrically conductive materialthereon; a lens member mounted to the front housing member; an imagingelement that is positioned to receive images from the lens member; acircuit board mounted to the front housing member, wherein the circuitboard is configured to send to another component signals relating toimages received by the imaging element, wherein the circuit board ismounted to the front housing member, wherein the circuit board has atleast one front electrical connector thereon, wherein one of the atleast one front connector is in electrical communication with the fronthousing member coating and is electrically connectable to ground; a rearhousing member having at least one rear electrical connector thereon;and wherein, as the rear housing member is mated with the front housingmember, the at least one rear electrical connector aligns with andelectrically connects to the at least one front electrical connector,and wherein the rear housing member has a rear alignment structure thataligns the at least one rear electrical connector with respect to the atleast one front electrical connector as the rear housing member is matedwith the front housing member.
 14. A camera as claimed in claim 13,wherein the circuit board is mounted to the front housing member with anelectrically conductive circuit board fastener that is in electricalcommunication with the front housing member coating.
 15. A camera asclaimed in claim 14, wherein the rear housing member has a rear housingmember interior surface that has a rear housing member coating thereon,and wherein one of the at least one rear electrical connector is incommunication with the rear housing member coating and is electricallyconnectable to ground.
 16. A camera as claimed in claim 15, wherein thesaid one of the at least one rear electrical connector is incommunication with the said one of the at least one front electricalconnector.
 17. A camera for mounting on a vehicle, comprising: a fronthousing member; a lens member mounted to the front housing member; animaging element that is positioned to receive images from the lensmember; a circuit board mounted to the front housing member, wherein thecircuit board is configured to send to another component signalsrelating to images received by the imaging element, wherein the circuitboard has at least one front electrical connector thereon; and a rearhousing member, wherein the rear housing member has at least one rearelectrical connector extending therefrom, wherein, as the rear housingmember is mated with the front housing member, the at least one rearelectrical connector electrically connects to the at least one frontelectrical connector, and wherein, with the rear housing member matedwith the front housing member, the at least one rear electricalconnector and the at least one front electrical connector are urgedtogether by at least one biasing member, and wherein the rear housingmember mates with the front housing member to define a camera interior,wherein the imaging element, the circuit board, the at least one frontelectrical connector and the at least one rear electrical connector arepositioned in the camera interior.
 18. A camera as claimed in claim 17,wherein each front electrical connector has a rear end and each rearelectrical connector has a front end, wherein the front and rear endsengage each other with a force that is substantially perpendicular tothe front and rear ends.
 19. A camera as claimed in claim 17, whereineach front electrical connector has a bend therein that is one of the atleast one biasing member.
 20. A camera as claimed in claim 17, whereineach front electrical connector has a rear end and each rear electricalconnector has a front end, wherein the rear end and the front end aresized to permit a selected amount of misalignment therebetween whilemaintaining an electrical connection therebetween.